The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-02-08
THE ATTORNEYS BILL,


Peck's Bill Beaten and the Weak
Amendment Passed Hot words
in the senate. Beck Thinks There
is Nothing in It," The Vote.
The Senate took up in committee Of
the whole the bill to prevent members OF
Congress from acting as attorneys for
subsidized railroads. Mr.. HOar's sub
stitute was agreed to by a vote of &c to
81. 1t makes it unlawful for member
of Congress to accept employment as an
attorney in opposition to the United
States in any case to which the United
States may he a party or in which its in
terests may he concerned, or from any
subsidized railroad company, if such
member have cause to believe that meas
ures specially affecting the interests Of
such railroad are pending before Con
gress or are about to he 50 pending dur
ing his term Of Office.
Mr.. salisbury then offered an amend
ment that members OF Congress might
appear as counsel in suits to which the
United States Is not a party. Mir. Beck
insisted that this amendment did not
strike at the evil which he WAS attempt
ing to outlaw. and said that the govern
mt now had in controversy with the
gre at land grant railroad companies suits
that involved over 800. 100000. He
wanted to have 1t declared that those
members of Congress who were, on any
preteXt whatever, in the employment of
these companies, and who had probably
received fees ten times out of proportion
! To their services in order to have their
friendship, should not occupy such re-
iatiOnS.
MR. BECK GROWS FERVID.
| Mr.. Beck got very warm he pro-
gressed with his speech. He attacked
/ the judiciary committee for having al
/ tered his original bill, which was passed
at the last session on the common i'm
| pulse that it was not proper thing to
/ allow men to sit in either body who had
! in their pockets the money of these cor
pOratiOnS. The amendments of MIR.
Hoar and MIR. salisbury were absolutely
WORTHLESS. and would leave the scandal
untouched.
Mr.. Salisbury was equally hot in his
| reply He was willing To concede to
| MIR. Beck all the honesty and virtue il
the Senate, but he thought it little I'M
generous in that Senator to denounce all
who differed from him. He repealed
with scorn the insinuatiOn of Mr.. Beck
that M had been ''induced" to change
his opinion since the original bill was
passed at the last session or that his
change of view had not been honest.
Mr.. Beck repudiated this imputation
and said that il Mr.. Salisbury finds in
the Record report anything attributing
an improper motive to him, he (Mr.
Beck " ould apologize.
MIR. SALISBURY REFUSES AN APOLOGY.
Mr.. Salisbury said - do not want
you to apologize. l know that you said
had been Induced to offer this amend
ment. Such an imputation, conveyed i'm
such language, l will resent here now. or
any where else, whenever the Senator
from Kentucky feels disposed to call me
to account for nything that l shall say
in regard to him. Such an imputation
is unworthy of a Senator. unworthy of
the Senate and l stand here now to say
that whatever may be his virtue. and
whatever his purity, he is not the peer of
other Senators in these regards. i did
vote for the Senator'S bill. l believed at
the time that it was ril hit. But subse
quent reflection convinced me that some
of its provisions were Objectionable.
believe the sDiendmen Ioffersd by me ia
right.
Mr. Beck said he did OF propose to an
swer the un Just and iil-natured remar ks
of the Senator from Delawar The RE
ord will show that that Senator had raised
storm for nothing. But when that
Senator said that he Beck was not the
peer OF other Senators, he would leave
that to the country.
MIR. Saulsbury-I beg pardon. that was
lapse of language. l did not mean to
say peer" but superior"
Mr.. Beck never claimed to be the
superior of any Senator, but l am the
peer of that Senator or any body else.
MIR. TELLER THINKS 1T DISGRACEFUL.
Mr.. Saulsbury's amendment and the
comm; tees substitute for Mr.. Beck's
bill were rejected. Mr.. Hoar's substitute
was then reported to the Senate. when
NJ
substitute and was rejected-yeas, Il I;
nays, 30.
Mr.. Teller thought he could appeal to
every man present in this chamber to
bear testimony that q more dIsgraceful
scene had never occurred in the Ameri-
can Senate than had been seen here to-
day. He had heard determinations and
concentrations and taunts heretofore,
but he had never heard anything to COM
pare with what he had heard to day
things not directly charged against a
member of the BODY; not charged in q
way in which a man would make him.
self amenable to his colleagues, but
charged by innuendo. Ii had been said
by the gentleman from Kentucky that
those who were opposed to this class of
legislation was dishonest.
Mr.. Beck Gnterrupting.) That is not
| true; that is absolutely untrue
Without needing the interruption Mr..
Teller went on to deununce the sugRes-
ton that members opposed to this legis-
lation had their pockets full Of the money
of the great corporations.
VOTING ON THE BILL.
The bill was then passed. Yeas, 80
nays. ii. Mr.. Mitchell, Of Pennsylva-
MIA, voted in the affirmative. The mega
tives were Messrs. Cali. Cameron, Far
well. Gray, Hampton. Nc MILAN, Malone,
/ Mifchau of Drauon- pxUnQ Pnuh RAN
som. Sawyer, Stanford, Teller-14
Mr.. Beck said that as the bill now
stood there was nothing in it he cared
much about, but that the House of Rep
resentatives might put something in it
and he wanted to give the House q
chance.
The bill as passed makes il unlawful